John didn’t even think about the damage done to himself before he jumped into his mom’s SUV.

“John?!” Brenda’s confused exclamation was muffled by the car door slamming shut behind him.

Buckling his seatbelt, the gamer gasped for air, half in panic, half in exertion, and she stared at him, watching as he struggled to calm himself. With a glance back at the school and a look over her shoulder to check the blindspot, Mrs. Newman put the vehicle in drive and pulled away from the curb. Once they were a couple blocks away, she pulled into a gas station and parked at a pump.

“Alright, Mr.” Brenda’s tone was clipped as she shut off the engine and turned towards her son, “explain yourself.”

His heart was still beating a mile a minute, and he took a deep breath. Her brow was furrowed, eyes wide and fixed on his face, body turned to face him, but leaning against her door with her arms crossed under her ample breasts. ’Is she scared of me?’

“Don’t just stare at me, John. I get a call from Prudence that you’re running a fever, I come to get you, you race out of the school with blood on your hands and the patch of your jacket ripped off!”

“What?” The lame response was all his mind could come up with. Shaking, the lycan looked down at his own hands. There really was blood. His vision blurred and stomach rolled as he fumbled for the door handle, the smell of iron suddenly overwhelming to his newly sensitive nose. He managed to get the door open but nearly strangled himself with the seat belt. Scrambling to free himself, John almost fell out of the white SUV and barely made it to the bin between the pumps before he started retching again.

Brenda rushed out of the car and to his side, soothingly rubbing circles on his back. “I’ll go get you a cold cloth and something to settle your stomach,” she murmured, her voice soft and smooth. He was shaking and weak, but her lavender and honey perfume relaxed him, and his stomach had settled by the time she returned. He straightened slowly, unsure if a sudden movement might set him off again.

Brenda steadied her son with a gentle hand, leaning into his field of vision as she spoke, “Are you okay?” The look on her face mirrored the school nurse’s concern as she carefully helped him back into the car. He couldn’t answer, but managed a weak thanks when the caring woman reclined his seat and draped his blazer over his knees like a blanket.

She took a moment to cover his forehead and eyes with a cool, damp cloth before setting a bottle of water, bottle of ginger ale, and a package of pretzels in the center console. “Mom, can you close the door before you start pumping gas?” John croaked, his voice weak and trembling.

“Sure, honey,” Brenda reassured him. “I’ll be right here if you need me.” She gave his knee a gentle pat before carefully shutting the door, giving him solace from the sound pollution of the city. ’Finally,’ he relaxed into his seat, still able to hear the muffled metallic thud of his mom putting the gas nozzle into the car’s filler neck and fuel running though the lines. The sound was so normal, it was almost soothing and dulled his headache.

A solid clank and the thunking noise behind him let him know that the gas tank was full and Brenda would be back in a moment. John, with a dry throat, clumsily grabbed for one of the two drinks. Brenda’s cell phone started to ring, but, thankfully, the chipper tone was muffled by the car sheltering the sick student. He took a few sips of the ginger soda and listened as she answered, but he managed to catch the name of the caller. It was the school nurse. His mom easily made friends with the school nurse at the start of the year and they often called each other just to chat when they were bored in their offices, so Prudence calling wasn’t a big surprise, especially if she got a report that John threw up in the school. ’At least I’ve made it to a trashcan before blowing chunks,’ he chuckled slightly to himself, glad he wasn’t causing anyone but his mother much trouble today. ’I really should have just stayed home to sleep. Good thing I had a fever so I have an excuse if I wanna skip a couple days.'

Brenda continued her distorted chat as she walked around to the driver door of the car, ending the call before she opened it. “Sorry, John. Your fever was too high for Prudence to allow you to come to school for the next couple days,” Mrs. Newman’s voice was kind, and he detected a note of worry, “So, lucky us, you get to hang out with me until Friday.” He knew she was just trying to cheer him up, but John couldn’t help but crack a smile.

“Thanks, Mom. I’m sorry if coming to get me interrupted your sleep.” The gamer readjusted his seat back to sitting up, moving the cloth to the back of his neck, as his mother started the SUV.

“Don’t be silly. I have tonight off, so I took a quick nap, but I can sleep tonight.” She kept her eyes on the road, and he could tell that she was driving much more carefully than normal as she pulled out of the service station. “Now, tell me about the blood,” John caught her glancing at him in the corner of his eye. “What happened? You know you can tell me.”

He’d never told her about his bullying, but she wasn’t dumb. There were always hints that she knew, even though she never asked her son about the minor scrapes and bruises. Resolved to finally admit it to her, John gulped. “I, uh,” he cleared his throat, capping and setting his soda down, “I got into a fight at school. They were threatening a girl that was just helping me walk out.”

Reaching into the pocket of her blue scrub shirt, Brenda pulled out a small bottle of hand sanitizer and handed it to her son. “You protected her. I knew I raised you right.” A smile spread across her glossy lips, and the gamer felt a swell of pride. “You’re not in trouble, nobody seems to know it even happened, so I doubt you hurt anyone that bad. It was probably just a bloody nose.” He relaxed slightly, scrubbing his hands frantically with the sanitizer. Cleaning off a nail made the image of Frank’s slashed face come to mind, and he paused. ’How could anyone not know about that? I mutilated him.’ He shuddered, scrubbing harder now. “Don’t worry, honey. Just rest and focus on getting better. If you still have a fever tomorrow, I’m going to see what Dr. Lacroix says.” The drive was so smooth, John was surprised to find her pulling into the driveway of their modest home already.